Monthly Archives: March 2015

By Taylor Malottki Editor’s Note: This article is from our Science for Kids series, aimed at children in grades 4-8. Have you ever wondered if your dog could tell how you felt? New research shows that dogs can tell whether people are angry or happy just from their facial expressions. Researchers in Europe –Vienna, Austria to…

By Rachel Zamzow COLUMBIA, Mo. – Humans are resilient creatures. We are equipped to withstand insults to our system, from genetic mutations to environmental risks, such as exposure to toxins. But when these insults collide, certain problems can arise. This is the case for autism, a developmental disorder that affects an individual’s ability to communicate…

By Taylor Malottki Shanna Swan, professor and vice chair for research and mentoring at Mount Sinai Medical Center, pushed her research in the right direction by collecting extra samples. Swan is known for her research on phthalates, the chemical used to make plastics flexible, and the effects they have on fetal development. She presented her research to…

BY SIDDHARTH VODNALA SAN JOSE, California – Did you know that when dogs defecate and urinate they align themselves with the north-south axis of the earth’s magnetic field? Or that people who habitually stay up late are, on average, more self-admiring, more manipulative, and more psychopathic than people who habitually arise early in the morning?…

BY SIDDHARTH VODNALA SAN JOSE, California – A runaway trolley is rumbling down a track. A few hundred yards ahead, there are five people tied to a pole in the center of the track. You see the train heading straight in their direction. You see a lever in the station that can shift the trolley onto…

By Siddharth Vodnala SAN JOSE, California – Tom McFadden jumped up and down a chair as he rapped a line from a song about life (the biological characteristic, that is). “Is it living?” he chanted. “Is it made of cells?” the audience roared back. The surrealness is routine for the former Stanford science tutor turned…

By Guimel Sibingo As a film about the pollution crisis hitting China today, The Chinese Mayor leaves much to be desired. However, it succeeds in brilliantly portraying the struggles of Chinese politics and the people’s relationship to their government. The film follows the daily life of Geng Yanbo, then mayor of Datong, a city that was once the…